Folding chair



(N0 Model.)

B. W. BATES. FOLDING CHAIR.

No. 479,393. Patented July 26, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD W. BATES, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FOLDING CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 479,393, dated July 26, 1892.

' Application filed January 28, 1892- Serial No. 419,523- (No model.)

To 0115 whom it may concern- Be it known that I, RICHARD WV. BATES, of Chicago, in the State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Chairs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of folding chairs in which cross-frames are pivoted together so as to open and close upon one another and when open afford legs to support the chair-bottom and form a back-rest for the same; and the object of my improvement is to provide a chair of this class with a more elastic frame and a flexible bottom adapted to operate as hereinafter shown and described. This object I attain in the chair having the frame and bottom constructed and connected as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of such chair opened for use. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same closed.

Referring to the drawings, the back-frame is composed of side pieces A, made of light metallic tubing and connected by rungs a, and the seat-frame of side pieces B, also of such tubing and having cross-rungs b. The said back and seat frames are pivoted together at a in the usual manner.

A is a cushion in the back.

The chair-bottom O is composed of flexible fabric without side bars, and in the present instance is made of a series of chains or cords c, which have one of their ends attached permanently to the top rung b of the seat-frame and their other ends to a stiff cross-piece 1), separate from but adapted to bear against the back-frame. They pass over and rest upon a rung a of the back-frame, placed at the proper height relatively to the top rung b of the seat-frame to support the bottom in the required position when the frames are open. The cross-piece b holds the rear edge of the flexible bottom extended upon the rung a and its ends project on each side of the chairbottom, so as to engage the side pieces A of the back-frame and prevent the rear edge of the bottom from being pulled through between them when the frames are open, and thereby the flexible bottom is held taut, so as to support the occupant. When the chair is closed, the flexible bottom will slide back over the rung a by the weight of the cross-piece b and be suspended below the rung a The chair-bottom is made wider in front than at theback; but, being flexible, the slde edges can readily curve or turn in, as shown in Fig. 2, to allow the increasing width toward the front to pass between the side pieces A when closing the chair.

The chair-frame, being made of metal, affords much greater elasticity or spring than can be attained with safety or durability by the use of a wooden frame, and the flexibility of the bottom combines with the elasticity of the frame to make a chair which will more readily yield to the weight, so as to better adapt itself to the form of the occupant than heretofore.

I am aware that folding chairs have heretofore been made having a bottom provided with side bars pivoted to the top of the seatframe and having slots in the side bars working on pins of the side pieces of the backframe, and also that other folding chairs have been made having a rigid bottom hinged to the seat-frame and provided with hooks at the back adapted to engage rungs of the backframe or having a rod adapted to engage notches in the rear of the side pieces of the back-frame, and I do not wish to be understood as making claim to such constructions.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A folding chair having the back and seat frames-made of light metallic tubing pivoted together, as shown, in combination with a bottom made of a series of separate chains having one of their ends secured to the top rung of the seat-frame and their opposite ends passed over a rung a of the back-frame level with the top rung of the seat-frame and severally attached to a free cross-piece b behind said rung a which free cross-piece projects beyond the side edges of the bottom, so as to engage the side pieces of the back-frame above the rung a for holding the chains extended laterally and taut between the open frames, as specified.

RICHARD W. BATES. Witnesses:

WM. R. GRISWOLD, J12, DEWIrT DAVIS. 

